Method for manufacturing shoes by bamboos

ABSTRACT

A method for manufacturing shoes includes step (1): removing oily and organic substance from bamboo; step (2): splitting the bamboo into plates; step (3): sanitizing the bamboo plates; step (4): dehydrating the bamboo plates; step (5): cooling the bamboo plates; step (6): cutting the bamboo plates into sections; step (7): softening fibers in the bamboo sections in step (6); step (8): gluing the bamboo sections in step (7); step (9): compressing the bamboo sections in step (8) by a pressing head to form a combination; step (10): heating the combination in step (9); step (11): cooling the combination in the step (10), and step (12): machining the combination in step (11) to be desired shapes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] This is a Continuation-In-Part application of applicant's former patent application with application Ser. No. 09/630,218, entitled “shoe sole made of bamboo and method for manufacturing the sole”, filed on Aug. 1, 2000.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Conventional shoes are made of plastic material or leather and generally includes a heel portion, an outsole, an insole and a vamp. These parts are connected with each other by way of stitching and/or gluing. Stitching is used to combine leather sheets and requires a lot of time to finish a pair of shoes so that the stitching is not suitable for those shoes which have low price and not composed by plastic sheets. Furthermore, some plastic material cannot be stitched and some plastic sheets tear off at the positions where stitching passes. Therefore, the plastic sheets are usually combined by gluing. Many scrubbing steps are taken on the plastic sheets before the sheets are glued and this type of shoes are not suitable to be recycled.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0003] In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing shoes and comprising the steps of step (1): to remove oily and organic substance from bamboo; step (2): to split the bamboo into plates; step (3): to sanitize the bamboo plates; step (4): to dehydrate the bamboo plates; step (5): to cool the bamboo plates; step (6): to cut the bamboo plates into sections; step (7): to soften fibers in the bamboo sections in step (6); step (8): to glue the bamboo sections in step (7); step (9): to compress the bamboo sections in step (8) by a pressing head to form a combination; step (10): to heat the combination in step (9); step (11): to cool the combination in the step (10), and step (12): to machine the combination in step (11) to be desired shapes.

[0004] The primary object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing shoes made of bamboo sections so as to reduce consumption of woods.

[0005] These and further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, several embodiments in accordance with the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006]FIG. 1 is a flow chart of the method in accordance with the present invention;

[0007]FIG. 2 is an illustrative view to show a cross section of the shoes made by the method of the present invention;

[0008]FIG. 3 is an illustrative view to show a combination of bamboo sections in the method of the present invention, and

[0009]FIG. 4 shows a shoe made by the method of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0010] Referring to FIG. 1, the method of the present invention comprises the following steps:

[0011] step (1): To remove oily and organic substance from bamboo by using a liquid mixed with aqua-ammonia and ammonium-hydroxide. The liquid is heated up to 120 to 160 degrees Celsius for 24 hours to remove oily and organic substance from the bamboo in step (1). The remains in the bamboo can be removed by using steam to evaporating the remains.

[0012] step (2): To split the bamboo into plates.

[0013] step (3): To sanitize the bamboo plates by using a liquid mixed with hydrogen peroxide and formadohyde. The liquid is heated up to 120 to 160 degrees Celsius for 24 hours to sanitize the bamboo plates.

[0014] step (4): To dehydrate the bamboo plates by heating the bamboo plates from 40 degrees Celsius to 100 degrees Celsius for 168 hours until the liquid in the bamboo plates is reduced to 6% to 8%.

[0015] step (5): To cool the bamboo plates for 72 hours from 100 degrees Celsius to 13 degrees Celsius.

[0016] step (6): To cut the bamboo plates into sections 1 as shown in FIG. 3 and arrange these bamboo sections 1 to be overlapped with each other according to the sizes of fibers 10 of the sections as shown in FIG. 2.

[0017] step (7): To soften fibers in the bamboo sections in step (6) by soaking the sections into a liquid comprising caustic-soda-flake.

[0018] step (8): To glue the bamboo sections by water-base glue such as poly-ethylene-vinyl, SBR-Latex and hardening agent.

[0019] step (9): To compress the bamboo sections in step (8) by pressing a pressing head with 1600 tons of force for 40 minutes in a mold at 160 degrees of Celsius to form a combination.

[0020] step (10): To heat the combination in step (9) in a oven with 40 to 80 degrees Celsius for a month to prevent from have fungus.

[0021] step (11): To cool the combination in the step (10) in a shaded place for three months.

[0022] step (12): To machine the combination in step (11) to have desired shapes.

[0023] By this way, referring to FIG. 4, the combination can be cut or machined to be desired area and shapes. For example, the combination can be made to be a heel portion 22, an insole 21, an outsole 20 or an upper 23 of a sandal. When the combination is used for a shoe, the whole sole portion can be made by the bamboo combination. The bamboo grow quickly and are environmental friendly so that the method can resolve the shortcomings of the shoes.

[0024] While we have shown and described various embodiments in accordance with the present invention, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for manufacturing shoes comprising the following steps: step (1): removing oily and organic substance from bamboo; step (2): splitting said bamboo into plates; step (3): sanitizing said bamboo plates; step (4): dehydrating said bamboo plates; step (5): cooling said bamboo plates; step (6): cutting said bamboo plates into sections; step (7): softening fibers in said bamboo sections in step (6); step (8): gluing said bamboo sections in step (7); step (9): compressing said bamboo sections in step (8) by a pressing head to form a combination; step (10): heating said combination in step (9); step (11): cooling said combination in said step (10), and step (12): machining said combination in step (11) to have desired shapes.
 2. The method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a liquid mixed with aqua-ammonia and ammonium-hydroxide and said liquid being heated up to 120 to 160 degrees Celsius for 24 hours to remove oily and organic substance from said bamboo in step (1).
 3. The method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a liquid mixed with hydrogen peroxide and formadohyde and said liquid being heated up to 120 to 160 degrees Celsius for 24 hours to sanitize said bamboo plates in step (3).
 4. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said bamboo plates in step (4) are heated from 40 degrees Celsius to 100 degrees Celsius for 168 hours to let the liquid in said bamboo plates be reduced to 6% to 8%.
 5. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said bamboo plates in step (5) are cooled for 72 hours from 100 degrees Celsius to 13 degrees Celsius.
 6. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said bamboo sections in step (6) are soaked into a liquid comprising caustic-soda-flake.
 7. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said combination formed in step (9) is made by compressing said combination by said pressing head with 1600 tons of force for 40 minutes in a mold at 160 degrees of Celsius. 